Nutri-Vet Hairball Paw Gel for Cats, Salmon Flavored Gel to Prevent, Reduce, and Eliminate Hairballs, Supports Digestive Health, 3 oz

This product is great for cats that get hairballs. We have a medium-hair Bombay and I give it to him on his paws about three times a week. He rarely gets hairballs with regular use and likes the chicken flavor. What's great too is that there's no guar gum which he is allergic to. It does have xanthan gum but it doesn't seem to have a reaction to it. I usually buy three at a time just to have it, but three is usually more than I would need in one year. It would be great to get a "three-for" deal from the manufacturer for their loyal customers.

My cats LOVE the taste, so no forced administration of this hairball treatment. My cats were all suffering from signs of having hairballs - vomiting, labored pooping and being lethargic. I subscribed to this product and have now been giving it to my cats daily for a few months now. The results are AMAZING! All symptoms have disappeared and all three are active, playful and zipping around the house like they did when they were kittens!! My three cats are 7-8 years old and I have owned cats all of my life. I highly recommend this product and will continue to buy it forever - or as long as my fur babies live!

The gel works well and my cat loves the flavor, she eats it off my finger or a spoon. But, the consistency varies from tube to tube and purchase to purchase. Sometimes it comes out smoothly with the consistency of tooth paste. More often, it's so hard it's almost impossible to get out. I've had to throw away half-full tubes because I couldn't squeeze it hard enough to get the paste out.

I am so very disappointed. I have used this for a few years for both of my cats. One of them would just lick it up if I put it on a cat plate. The other one would allow me to give it to her with a syringe. I know it’s intended to be paw gel, but that tends to get a little messy when you apply it and the cat goes running around the house! I recently got my subscription and the tubing was a different color. The formula has changed. It is thicker, much harder to squeeze out of the tube and a darker brown color. The smell is different. My cats do not care for this and I had to force it down and there was a big mess. My girl somehow managed to block her throat and because it was thick, it ended up in her fur. I don’t understand why the company felt they needed to change a good thing. Update: I reached out to Nutri Vet and they informed me that they changed it due to previous customer feedback. I would suggest that others reach out also & maybe we can get the previous formula back!

We have a delicate tummy cat, approaching senior, and the older she gets the worse it gets. She would throw up hairballs all the time, and I mean every day. We tried changing her diet from kibble to wet. That didn't work. We were at our wits end when, thankfully, we found this product. We add it to her food once a day and she has been doing very well on it. She is now on a mostly wet and small amount of kitty kibble. She will now go weeks without throwing up. It seems to have relieved a lot of her tummy issues and she seems more active. Will continue her on this product.

Our cat had several episodes of throwing up hairballs. We subsequently tried the salmon flavored Nutra Vet hairball gel. It was effective and seemingly without side effects. Our cat likes the flavor and has been licking 1/4 of a teaspoon of it approximately 6 days per week. We have been giving it to Mallory once daily, unless her stool has been soft, in which case we skip a day. I recently investigated the toxicity of benzene, which can be formed when the ingredients of sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) are both included within a product. Both of these ingredients are in this brand of hairball gel. Benzoate acid is naturally found in some foods such as apples, tomatoes, plums, and cinnamon. Sodium benzoate is man-made and is commonly used as a preservative, as it inhibits the growth of potentially harmful bacteria. Sodium benzoate is also used in some cosmetics, medicines, and other products. Reportedly he United States allowable amount of benzene is 5 ppb (parts per billion), with a few US states and with some countries deeming only 1ppb to be safe. Exposure to heat increases potential for production of benzene in greater amounts within the product.We haven't yet decided whether to use the balance of our two tubes of this gel (and to discard the new tube that we just received), or discard them all and switch to another type that does not include both ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate. I am disappointed about not being comfortable with continued use of this product because our cat likes it and it has been effective for her. I would rate this product with 4 or possibly 5 stars, but due to the benzene concerns, reduced my rating to 3 stars. As any benzene within the product could be well below the amount deemed safe, and as this gel has been effective for our cat, it did not seem fair to rate the gel any lower than 3 stars. My opinion is that the makers of this Nutra-Vet Cat hairball gel product should re-formulate their ingredients so that benzene could no longer be generated.UPDATE 12/06/22: We had ceased, but reluctantly began using this product again because it's the only one that our cat likes which effectively reduces her hairballs. There has been a fairly recent formulary change as evidenced by the newer thickness of the product. We contacted Nutri-Vet to ask about the change and received a written response from them informing that the active ingredients remain unchanged, but that they had had to change the source of non-active ingredients, the result being a thicker product. They indicated that they are aware of this and are working on it. We tried microwaving it for a few seconds, but it remains thick. Mallory is able to lick it off of a flat surface (as opposed to a rounded plastic teaspoon -- which had worked with the prior formula). This product continues to include sodium benzoate as an ingredient, thus my rating remains at 3 stars, despite its effectiveness.12/18/22 A representative from Nutra-Vet called us a few days ago in response to our prior contact-so they both wrote a response and subsequently called to discuss our concerns following our complaint regarding the new thickness of the product. The rep reiterated that they had undergone a content change in Nutri-Vet Hairball Gel due to ingredient sourcing difficulties. Impressive that they cared enough to both respond to our complaint in writing and then to follow up with a telephone call. Great customer service!06/07/23 Update: We recently purchased the Salmon Nutri-vet paw gel from Amazon and from another source and note that the current items have returned to their original soft quality. Sodium benzoate is still an ingredient. No more harder stuff having to be put on my husband's finger to be licked by the cat. We have returned to squirting it into a 1/4 teaspoon and having Mallory lick it from the spoon. Yeah!!!